Syntax highlighting of 8b2e6f3 ~( meetingNotes/20140417)

== Damien Zammit - Coreboot ==
 * Coreboot is a Free Software replacement for proprietary BIOS - really important project 
 * Coreboot does the minimal initialisation of hardware, hands off rest of the task to a "payload" program like GRUB or SeaBIOS
 * sister project Flashrom handles complex task of writing to different flash ROM chips
 * lots of manual work for Coreboot to support each new machine, even if similar components
 * recent Intel machines require proprietary blob
 * AMD have an agreement with Coreboot to provide full specs - yay!
 * installing Coreboot on Lenovo Thinkpad T60
   * T60 that Damien owns has about 5 different variations
   * visually identify flashrom chip (get hands dirty)
   * first time compiled Coreboot and flashed, machine was dead
     * you need a recovery method first, eg. external flashing device
     * always take a backup of existing BIOS with Flashrom
   * was able to restore original BIOS with external clip and Rasberry Pi
   * T60 had some unusual settings that reverse flash memory - challenging
   * once installed relatively easy to upgrade
 * Damien also working on replacing binary blob in modern Intel boards
   * null modem cable to give serial output from Coreboot eg. printf
 * EFI is just software with an agreed spec. - Coreboot replaces it
 * Damien also tried Coreboot on a modern AMD AGESA HUDSON board and worked first time - F2A85-M ~ $70 for board
 * Libreboot restricted subset of Coreboot without binary blobs
 * Also started a [[http://me.bios.io/|wiki]] about why proprietary blobs in BIOS is bad and issues with Intel
   * additional ARC CPU with RSA signed code that can control main CPU and talk to the Internet
     * runs a real-time OS
     * every model after T60/X60
     * not an issue with AMD boards

== Gnews ==
[[https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv_20140407.txt|OpenSSL Heartbeat vulnerability]]

 * affects both servers and clients
   * upgrade Android 4.1 or greater
   * not all TLS implementations, not GnuTLS
   * not GPG related
 * upgrade and replace private keys
 * must also restart all services
 * broken into mainstream, lots of confusion and bad reporting
 * interesting issues relating to free software
   * wouldn't have been discovered or fixed easily otherwise
   * trolling about Free Software negatives
 * interesting that two discovered at same time

[[https://action.sumofus.org/a/trade-sustainers/4/4/|TPP]]
 * http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/large-crowds-fill-taipei-streets-in-protest-over-china-trade-bill/ 
 * not much happening right now - that makes it hard to fight
   * nebulous
 * possibly get a talk on this some time from EFA

[[http://cloud.blender.org/gooseberry/|Project Gooseberry]]
 * looking for more donations by this weekend
 * feature length film

[[http://www.ted.com/talks/kirby_ferguson_embrace_the_remix|Embrace the Remix Ted video]]
 * ted.com videos supported by free software without flash!
 * very much worth a watch - touches on copyright and patent problems

[[http://www.crowdsupply.com/kosagi/novena-open-laptop|Novena]]
 * http://makezine.com/2014/04/02/the-worlds-first-open-source-laptop-makes-its-debut/
 * support folks who are supporting open hardware

[[http://media.libreplanet.org/u/zakkai/m/free-software-for-freedom-surveillance-and-you/|Talk by Jacob Appelbaum at Libre Planet]] 
 * talks and shows a Novena